Early Black Wattle - non-local native (*Acacia decurrens)

A native of N.S.W.

It is an occasional bushland weed.

A small tree. The leaves are divided into pinnae which are further divided into leaflets. The leaflets are well-separated. There are glands (small raised swellings) at the junctions of the pinnae and the main leaf stalk. The leaves, and usually the branchlets, are green. Flowers are in sprays in early spring. Scattered.

Early Black Wattle differs from Black Wattle in the longer, more widely spaced leaflets, the regular placement of the glands along the central leaf vein, and the earlier flowering time.

It is a bushland weed. It is sometimes planted, by mistake, in landcare plantings (e.g. when revegetating Tower Hill.)

1: The leaflets of Black Wattle are widely separated. 2, 3: In flower. Castlemaine. 4: Early Black Wattle in flower, Tower Hill.

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